Champions League - UEFA's player of the yearWinner will be announced on Thursday

UEFA unveiled the finalists for their 'Player of the year,' with Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric making up the podium after an outstanding 12 months.

The three finalists were brilliant for their club teams and also with their national teams, culminating in the World Cup in Russia, and all of them were present in the final of the Champions League between Real Madrid and Liverpool in Kiev.

According to UEFA; "the award recognises the best players, regardless of nationality, playing for a club within the territory of a UEFA member federation during the past season.

"Players are judged for their performances in all competitions: national, continental and international. "

Madrid are expected to win the gongs for the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the Champions League as Keylor Navas, Marcelo, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo are all nominated.

The list of finalists for UEFA's Best Player of the Year was selected by a jury composed of 80 coaches from the clubs that participated in the UEFA group stages; Champions League 2017/18 (32) and the UEFA Europa League (48), together with 55 journalists selected by European Sports Group (ESM), representing each of the UEFA member associations.

MARCA is the Spanish representative.

Luka Modric

The Croatian footballer led Madrid with indisputable success in his quest to achieve the '13th.'

His work with Toni Kroos in Real's engine room gave the team the fluidity to achieve superiority in the midfield and generate chances.

With Madrid in 2017/2018 he scored two goals and provided eight assists.

Modric is a total midfielder who has been able to command Croatia, along with Rakitic, to the greatest success of its history in reaching the World Cup final and being the Golden Ball of the tournament.

In that tournament, Luka scored two goals and give an assist.

Mohamed Salah

Something more than an idol for Egypt and Liverpool.

Salah was the major reason why the African team qualified for a World Cup after 28 years and the 'reds' returned to a Champions League final after eleven seasons.

His return of 44 goals and 16 assists in 52 games was nothing short of sensational, but his injury in the European final conditioned his participation in the World Cup right up until the last minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Juventus' new striker had a great year with Real Madrid achieving his fourth Champions League, something unthinkable barely three years ago when he had only won one for Real.

The Portuguese managed to score 44 goals and provide eight assists in 44 official matches played with Madrid last season.

In the European cup he returned to be top scorer with 15 goals.

With his national team, Cristiano could not have started the World Cup in a better way.

A hat-trick against Spain in the first match of a group stage in which both teams qualified for the knockout stages.

Four goals were scored by the captain of the Portuguese national team that were eventually eliminated in the last 16 against Uruguay.